Title II of the ADA requires state and local governments to make sure that their services, programs, and activities are accessible to people with disabilities. Title II applies to all services, programs, or activities of state and local governments, from adoption services to zoning regulation. This includes the services, programs, and activities that state and local governments offer online and through mobile apps.
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 24, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
WCAG 2.1 AA is Mid-Level Conformance
This rule sets a specific technical standard that state and local governments must follow to meet their existing obligations under Title II of the ADA for web and mobile app accessibility.
Each WCAG level builds on the previous level. In other words, to meet the requirements of Level AA, your content needs to follow all Level A and Level AA success criteria. To meet WCAG Level AAA, you’d need to follow all the success criteria included in the WCAG guidelines.
Below are some of the new success requirements for WCAG 2.1 AA.
Click here to see more of what is new in WCAG 2.1AA.
The ADA protects the rights of people who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits their ability to perform one or more major life activities, such as breathing, walking, reading, thinking, seeing, hearing, or working. It does not apply to people whose impairment is unsubstantial, such as someone who is slightly nearsighted or someone who is mildly allergic to pollen. However, it does apply to people whose disability is substantial but can be moderated or mitigated, such as someone with diabetes that can normally be controlled with medication or someone who uses leg braces to walk, as well as to people who are temporarily substantially limited in their ability to perform a major life activity. The ADA also applies to people who have a record of having a substantial impairment (e.g., a person with cancer that is in remission) or are regarded as having such an impairment (e.g., a person who has scars from a severe burn).
Title II of the ADA applies to all State and local governments and all departments, agencies, special purpose districts, and other instrumentalities of State or local government (“public entities”). It applies to all programs, services, or activities of public entities, from adoption services to zoning regulation. Title II entities that contract with other entities to provide public services (such as non-profit organizations that operate drug treatment programs or convenience stores that sell state lottery tickets) also have an obligation to ensure that their contractors do not discriminate against people with disabilities.
State and local governments provide many of their services, programs, and activities through websites and mobile apps. When these websites and mobile apps are not accessible, they can create barriers for people with disabilities.
Websites and mobile apps that are not accessible can make it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to access government services, like ordering mail-in ballots or getting tax information, that are quickly and easily available to other members of the public online. Sometimes, inaccessible websites and mobile apps can keep people with disabilities from joining or fully participating in civic or other community events like town meetings or programs at their child’s school.
This rule will help make sure people with disabilities have access to state and local governments’ services, programs, and activities available on websites and mobile apps. This rule will also provide state and local governments with more clarity about what they have to do to comply with the ADA.
The final rule has specific requirements about how to ensure that web content and mobile applications (apps) are accessible to people with disabilities.
State and local governments’ websites often include a lot of content that is not currently used. This information may be outdated, not needed, or repeated somewhere else. Sometimes, this information is archived on the website.
Web content that meets all four of the following points would not need to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA:
Example: A water quality report from 1998 that a state has stored in an “archive” section of its website and has not updated would probably fall under the exception. The exception would also probably apply to handwritten research notes or photos that go with the 1998 water quality report that the state scans and posts to its website in the archive section.
For more exception summaries, please click here.
Poor color contrast. People with limited vision or color blindness cannot read text if there is not enough contrast between the text and background (for example, light gray text on a light-colored background).
Use of color alone to give information. People who are color-blind may not have access to information when that information is conveyed using only color cues because they cannot distinguish certain colors from others. Also, screen readers do not tell the user the color of text on a screen, so a person who is blind would not be able to know that color is meant to convey certain information (for example, using red text alone to show which fields are required on a form).
Lack of text alternatives (“alt text”) on images. People who are blind will not be able to understand the content and purpose of images, such as pictures, illustrations, and charts, when no text alternative is provided. Text alternatives convey the purpose of an image, including pictures, illustrations, charts, etc.
No captions on videos. People with hearing disabilities may not be able to understand information communicated in a video if the video does not have captions.